Quick answer: Sit down in week one and answer the nine topics below together. Print the sheet on this page, fill it in, and stick it somewhere neutral. It is not a legal document. It is a memory aid for two people who agreed on things once.
The nine topics
- Appliances: who brings what, who owns what, and what happens to each item in May. The full breakdown is in the shared appliances checklist.
- Shared purchases: what gets split, what does not, and the rule that whoever pays keeps the receipt and the item.
- Cleaning: who does what and when. A weekly split beats a vague "we'll keep it clean". The Sunday Reset is a ready-made rotation.
- Guests: heads-up rules, overnight limits, and the veto. The most fought-about topic on this list, and the one most worth writing down.
- Quiet hours: your own, not just the hall's. Class schedules, sleep schedules, headphones after a certain hour.
- Food: what is shared, what is labeled, and what happens when someone finishes the last of something.
- Temperature: a number range, agreed once. The thermostat war is real and it is winnable in advance.
- Communication: how you raise a problem: in person, in the group chat, and before it festers. Agree that the first mention of an issue is a favor, not an attack.
- Move-out ownership: who takes each shared thing home, decided at purchase time, not in finals week.
Printable agreement
Print this sheet, fill it in together, and revisit it if something stops working. Ten minutes now.
How to have the conversation without it being weird
Frame it as logistics, not law: "want to knock out the who-brings-what list so we don't buy stuff twice?" Start with appliances, which is the least personal topic, and let the rest follow. Most halls also run an official roommate agreement through the RA in the first weeks. This sheet makes that meeting a formality because you already agreed on the real answers.
Track the shared items you agree on in DormHQ so the plan survives past week one.
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